(WHAS11) -- Business owners at the Glenview Pointe Shopping Center held a meeting Tuesday night with Lyndon Fire Chief Russell Rakestraw and Major John Stich. They were seeking answers for invoices they received that charged them for annual mandatory fire inspections.
The Lyndon Fire District implemented cost recovery fees in July of 2011 to make up for budget shortfalls.
“I’m pretty much opposed to new taxes and fees, but I’m also opposed to people dying in fires," Rakestraw said.
Business owners say they were billed $100 or more for a few minutes worth of work by an inspector.
“They're supposed to check the exits. They're supposed to look for electrical hazards. They're supposed to look for all these things, and if they're not doing that then I need to know about it," Stich said.
Rakestraw said the district is operating under an old state law that from 1944 that capped the tax rate on property at ten cents per $100 value. Shopping center owner Daniel Kessler said his businesses should not have to bear the sole responsibility for the low revenue.
“There is a problem and it needs to be solved. The real issue is the millage rate needs to be changed,” Kessler said.
Firefighters said in order for there to be a change the public needs to get involved politically.
